Pittsburgh Pitcher, who allowed 5 runs in 1 ⅔, now equipped with a 159km fastball that SF will covet, 32.4 billion is enough

Nov 22, 2025

Pittsburgh Pitcher, who allowed 5 runs in 1 ⅔, now equipped with a 159km fastball that SF will covet, 32.4 billion is enough
Cody Ponce hands the ball to manager Derek Shelton and goes down the mound when he was a slugger in the second inning after starting against the Milwaukee Brewers on July 4, 2021 (Korea Standard Time) when he was a Pittsburgh Pirates player AP Yonhap News



Pittsburgh Pitcher, who allowed 5 runs in 1 ⅔, now equipped with a 159km fastball that SF will covet, 32.4 billion is enough
The game between the Hanwha Eagles and the LG Twins in Game 3 of the Korean Series at Hanwha Life Ball Park in Daejeon on the 29th. Hanwha starter Ponce, who struck out LG Moon Bo-kyung with two outs and runners on the first and second bases in the top of the sixth inning, is roaring. Daejeon = Reporter Park Jae-man pjm@sportschosun.com
Can San Francisco Giants Lee Jung-hoo be a teammate with the best product in KBO in 2025.

It is a given that Ponce will leave Korea for the first time in a year. This is because major league clubs cannot let the best foreign pitcher of all time, who is likely to be the MVP this season, be left alone.

On the 22nd (Korea time), MLB.com prepared a corner titled 「Widespread FA Classification」 and evaluated Ponce as an intermediate level of 3.




The media reported that `Ponce is a successful candidate in Korea, so it can be an attractive starting candidate for major league clubs who want to strengthen their rotation without spending a lot of money. From 2020 to 2021, he became a different pitcher than when he marked a 5.86 ERA in 20 games for the Pirates.

Starting pitchers in the third grade include Justin Verlander, Tyler Marley, Jack Rittell, Lucas Giolito and Chris Bassett. It's a three-line issue.

Analysts from MLBTR, another media outlet, cited four clubs that can sign Ponce: the San Francisco Chicago White Sox, the Milwaukee Brewers, and the St. Louis Cardinals.




MLBTR sees Ponce's expected contract size at $22 million (about 32.4 billion won) for two years. The annual average of $11 million is not too much for a proven starter.

Pittsburgh Pitcher, who allowed 5 runs in 1 ⅔, now equipped with a 159km fastball that SF will covet, 32.4 billion is enough
Cody Ponce during the Pittsburgh Pirates. ImagesYonhap News
Ponce's strength, which the media paid attention to, is fastball speed. Ponce had a four-seam fastball velocity of up to 95.8 miles and an average of 93.2 miles in 2020-2021 when he was throwing for the Pittsburgh Pirates. However, in this year's KBO League, it showed a maximum of 98 miles and an average of 95 to 96 miles. On top of that, the ability to use cutters, changeups, and curves improved, and the ratio of inducing swings and misses above the league average was shown.

MLBTR says `Ponce's success looks similar to Eric Peddy's a few years ago. However, Ponce has a successful career (2022-2023) in the NPB, which Pedi does not have, saying 'International scouts may be better than Ponce in Pedi's command, but Ponce is much better as a weapon that can induce swings and misses in the major leagues. At the time of re-entry to the Major League, Ponce is one year older, but Ponce will be better for the total amount of guarantees.




Ponce played three seasons in the NPB, 2022-2024. In 2022-2023, he pitched 135 innings in 24 games in two seasons with the Nippon Ham Fighters, with a 3.47 ERA and 109 strikeouts. In 2024, he was sluggish with a 6.72 ERA in 15 games.

Pittsburgh Pitcher, who allowed 5 runs in 1 ⅔, now equipped with a 159km fastball that SF will covet, 32.4 billion is enough
KBO League SSG and Hanwha at SSG Landers Field in Incheon on October 1st. Hanwha Ponce, who is pitching as a starter. Incheon = Song Jeong-heon, reporter song@sportschosun.com
However, he pitched 180 ⅔ innings in 29 games for the KBO Hanwha Eagles this season, marking 17 wins and 1 loss, 1.89 ERA, 252 strikeouts, 6.15 strikeouts to walks, and 0.94 WHIP. Since the introduction of the foreign player system in 1998, it is a good starting pitcher performance that deserves to be in the top 5. In three postseason games, he gave up 15 hits and six walks in 17 innings and allowed seven runs with 23 strikeouts. He has an ERA of 3.71.

San Francisco plans to add at least one starting pitcher this offseason. It is predicted that Ponce could be brought in as the third starter that can support ace Logan Webb and second starter Robbie Ray. They say Ponce is better than the 3,4 and 5 starting candidates such as Carson Whisenhunt, Landon Loop, Trevor McDonald and Carson Seymour.

However, it is unlikely that San Francisco will re-sign Verlander or bring in another legend Max Scherzer in his 40s. If the policy of low cost and high efficiency is followed, there is no starting pitcher like Ponce.

Ponce was relegated to the bullpen on July 4, his last start in 2021, when he was in Pittsburgh, after giving up six hits and three walks in one ⅔ against the Milwaukee Brewers and allowing five runs. Four years later, such a pitcher is now attracting quite a lot of attention.





This article was translated by Naver AI translator.